A New Life in France

Deciding to move to France should not be taken lightly, there are a number of important issues to take into consideration. Whether you consider the cost of living in France to be higher or lower than the UK, depends very much on your circumstance. If for instance you have to renovate your house in France, you run two cars, you arrive with a sparse wardrobe, you may find the cost is excessively high.

Clothes for example, I find really expensive here, you don't have stores like Tesco's and Primark, or many of the high street stores like Topshop. A lot of the places you would buy clothes are boutiques and a plain t-shirt is around €40. I find a lot of the clothes are not as fashionable either, so if you like fashionable clothes they may not suit you. Most expats living here buy there clothes on-line, as I do, or I would wait until I go over to the UK and buy what I need.  You can buy cheaper clothes in supermarkets but the quality isn't very good.

Bills I would say utility bills in France are around about the same as in the UK, although you don't get the same competition. But there seems to be more competition in the more modern services like broadband and mobile phones.

Shopping I  do most of my shopping at the local supermarket, as do most of the French. On average a weekly shop would cost around €130 for my husband and myself and of course that includes the wine. I can buy a bottle of Bordeaux for €3.50. If you buy seasonal and local produce you can cut your costs and your getting quality produce. A lot of DIY products vary considerably, although the price of paint is really expensive compared to the UK.

Eating out It is much cheaper eating out if you live in rural area's in France. The food is simple but good quality. You can get a three course meal in a bistro cafe from 10€ to €15. which would include a carafe of house wine. It would consist of salade, soup, a terrine or pate for starters. Main course would be fish, chicken, or pasta with/or vegetables. A selection of cheese, and dessert, which is not usually listed on the menu. The waiter would usually advise you on the the dessert.

Services Such as health care and schools can be considerably more expensive than the UK, but they are widely considered far superior. Health care is available to all expats with the relative forms.

Recession in France Talking to friends and family, I would say the cost of living in France is definitely not as high. There doen't seem to be the same obsession of home ownership in France as in the UK. As the property market boom in the UK played a hugh role in the banking sector crash, you find the banking sector in France was not as exposed.